- You are here:
- Home
- Blog
- Living in Colombia
- Understanding Mañana Time in Colombia
While living in Latin America, one of the bigger issues that other foreigners like me will have with living down here is something called mañana time in Colombia
Now what is mañana time in Colombia?
It’s basically where people show up late to everything down here just because
And it’s literally just because
People will always try to give you a BS excuse for why they showed up late
Traffic was bad…
They were sleeping…
Their aunt got kidnapped by the evil ghost of Pablo Escobar and burned alive in the name of Vladimir Putin
They were sick…
They left work too late…
Whatever the reason!
So in a practical sense, you may have a date with a girl named Alejandra
And the date is scheduled for 1:06 PM
And Alejandra doesn’t show up until maybe 1:16 to 1:20 if she makes an honest effort to not be too late
However, in worst case scenarios, Alejandra might show up sometime from 1:36 to 1:50
Fuck it!
She might show up at 2 PM just because of…..
Mañana Time in Colombia!
So here you are having traveled across a big city like Bogota in the public transportation system
On a bus that is throwing you around left to right
And then you arrive 5 minutes early all sweating from traveling for 30 to 40 minutes
And she shows up late somewhere between 10 minutes to an hour
Why does this happen?
In all my years living here, I never spent too much time trying to understand why this happens
However, I have talked with my girlfriend about this before writing this article
And I talked with a few Colombian friends I have here also
Most of the people I talked with usually didn’t have the best idea at first for why they do this
They do it “just because”
However, after some more questioning, some of them mentioned how everyone else does it also
And for that reason, some of them, such as my girlfriend, don’t expect the other person to show up on time
So they take their sweet time in showing up also
Furthermore, some of their excuses are valid
Public transportation does suck and traffic can get bad
And so things just mess up and you didn’t expect it to
While maybe a bus ride from A to B normally takes 15 minutes
Now maybe it takes 40 minutes because of how bad traffic is
Finally, it’s just the way the culture is as some put it
Things are generally speaking more relaxed down here and people don’t see the need to show up on time just because
Nothing wrong with being a little bit late as some put it
Which makes sense since I have also talked with some Colombians about their time in the US
And one thing they hate is how everyone is so strict on being on time with showing up
That it causes them too much stress
Perhaps we can call that “Stress Time” for how things operate in the US
Either way, culture is definitely a part of it in terms of how little emphasis people put on showing up on time
Difference by Area
It should also be noted that the whole mañana time in Colombia is not as bad in some areas versus others
For example, in some of the wealthier cities like Bogota, people do a slightly better job at showing up on time
I also found Colombians in Medellin to do a slightly better job also
Outside of those two cities, expect people to be worse at showing up on time in every other part of Colombia
And that isn’t to say that people show up on time in Bogota or Medellin
It’s just that I met more people in both cities that do show up on time
And when they show up late, it’s usually by 5 to 10 minutes instead of 20 to 30 or worse
And between those 2 cities, Bogota is much better
Either way, the reason for this is really because those two cities are wealthier
More business is done in those two cities
So people are going to be more just a little more punctual
How To Deal With Mañana Time
First, get used to it
If you can’t get over this issue and if it honestly makes you too angry all the time, you are going to hate living in Latin America and Colombia specifically
For me, it’s something I love and hate
I love how there is no stress on me showing up on time and everything is more relaxed
I hate how when I need something done at a specific time and day….
That nobody takes it seriously and that itself causes stress
Either way, I see the good and bad in it
And you have to get used to it
Furthermore, you can plan around it in a way
How so?
Basically just assume everyone is going to show up late
So plan accordingly
You need something done or you need to meet someone at a specific time?
Well, if that time is 3 PM, make sure to tell the other person that you want to meet them or have something done by 2:30 PM if you think they will be extra late
If you have a little bit of confidence in them, 2:45 is fair enough
One Funny Example
While living in Colombia, I used to visit a Chilis restaurant quite often
On the outside of the restaurant, they had a schedule for when they were open or closed
I don’t remember when they said they were open exactly but let’s say 12 PM
So I would show up on time at 12 because I enjoyed having lunch there
However, most of the time they did not open at 12
Instead, if I was very lucky, they would show up at 12:15
Most of the time, the workers showed up around 12:30 to 12:45
And I would always be outside the building, watching them walk slowly with their backs hunched and looking very tired
Like they literally just got out of bed
And showing up late to work
It didn’t matter
It seemed like no other Colombian complained about this
Only the angry gringo who expected things to run on time
Well, not here in Chilis!
So they would show up late always and open late
And I was always their first customer on days I went there
So it’s not just going on dates with women down here
It’s also when restaurants open and so many other things in life down here where you will see people operate on “mañana time.”
Final Thoughts
Overall, I hope you enjoyed this article. If you are planning a trip to Colombia, make sure to prepare yourself with a good travel guide to Colombia
If you have any questions or insights, let me know below.
And if you want to understand other important aspects of dating Colombian women, check out this article on how the Catholic faith influences Colombian dating or this article on the importance of meeting her family
Thanks and take care.
Hasta luego parceros,
Seth
Join the Newsletter to discover the best cities to date sexy Colombian women!
__CONFIG_colors_palette__{“active_palette”:0,”config”:{“colors”:{“cf6ff”:{“name”:”Main Color”,”parent”:-1},”73c8d”:{“name”:”Dark Accent”,”parent”:”cf6ff”}},”gradients”:[]},”palettes”:[{“name”:”Default”,”value”:{“colors”:{“cf6ff”:{“val”:”rgb(140, 0, 0)”,”hsl”:{“h”:0,”s”:0.99,”l”:0.27}},”73c8d”:{“val”:”rgb(85, 4, 2)”,”hsl_parent_dependency”:{“h”:1,”l”:0.17,”s”:0.95}}},”gradients”:[]}}]}__CONFIG_colors_palette__ Sign Up & Date Sexy Colombian Women!